FAITH CAPSULE: Jesus alone will make the difference.

Philippians 4

It is doubt that denies man to unconsciously miss the help of God for man. With doubt in the heart of man, troubling challenge will reposition man out of the presence of God. With heart that is occupied by troubling challenge, having joy that places man in the presence of God is not possible. David talked about joy and the presence of God, “…in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11) Paul emphasized on the need for joy and rejoicing despite troubling challenges of his life. Paul encouraged the need to be in joy stating, “…my brethren, rejoice in the Lord…” (Philippians 3:1) Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) Joy and rejoicing does not have a substitute before God; joy and rejoicing is a continual engagement to retain the presence of God. Jesus questioned in Luke 24:38, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? With doubt, believe of man becomes shattered in the heart as troubling challenges gathers to take position. Jesus encouraged us “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)
Affliction is troubling.
Word of God promised, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) Do not be troubled because of affliction. Today, pray against the troubler of the heart; ask that trouble shall cease and expectation of heart shall not perish. Believe that Jesus is here as stated in John 10:10, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Jesus is here to give life abundantly. Do you doubt His word? It is doubt that denies man from receiving in the promise of God for man. Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? (Luke 24:38) With doubt, believe of man becomes shattered in the heart. Jesus encouraged us “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)
Faith is what pleases God.
Trusting and hoping in God is rooted in keeping focus in the word of God. In the face of your troubling challenge, keep on praying to God because Jesus encourages all to ask, seek, knock and be persistent because God answers. Regardless of troubling challenge one must stay positive and be encouraged in the Lord. Above all, it is important for man to know that life is about today, not yesterday. Truly, focus only on Jesus not on man, not on prophe-liars or aposto-deceiver.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God against the troubler of heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: Begin to enter and dwell in the presence of God.

Jeremiah 7

Are you entering and dwelling in the place of God?
Entering and dwelling in the place of God is rooted in how you amend your ways. Jeremiah spoke the word of God to the people of Judah that will also add to our understanding of what it means to enter and dwell in the place of worshiping God. Jeremiah 7:1-3, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.’’” It does not matter how many hours you spend in the place of worship, or how long you have been entering your church building; it will not count if you are very active in the church but you are only entering on a regular basis without dwelling in the presence of God. The word of God through Jeremiah was not to those that do not come to worship but speaks to those that comes to worship as it pleases them not to please God. Does the word only apply to the people of Judah? Indeed, it was a direct message to the people of Judah, but it also directly communicates to us.
God wants us to amend our ways, not our excuses regarding to our ways entering and dwelling. It is about time to entering and dwelling in the place of worshiping God. What we need to do is trust God for the grace to begin to enter and dwell in His presence. God will help your desire to become deposited into your life. The Psalmist knew what he was asking for when he lifted his voice and asked God for his desire. Psalm 27:1-5, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”
David’s identity as a man after God’s own heart must be the evidence of his dwelling in the presence of God. As an acclaimed believer, will you make dwelling in the presence of God that will establish you as a man after God’s own heart? Dwelling and entering the presence of God is taking a positioned to be blessed.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be entering and dwelling in His presence.

FAITH CAPSULE: Abraham loved God with all his all.

Genesis 22

Loving God is not valentine celebration. Loving God is worshiping God, loving God should be a non-stop engagement when there is breath within us. Loving God should not be how we please to love Him but how He expects us to love Him.  God does have a set standard for every area of His expectation for us. Standard to love God and get His attention is stated in Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” To love God means to give Him all just as Abraham gave God all is all, loving God. He loved God with all his heart, with all his soul, with his strength.
Abraham loved God with all his all. Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left home because he chose to love and serve God by fulfilling God’s call for his life. Abraham demonstrated his love when he moved in obedience to an unknown location. Through the journey of Abraham’s life, his love for God was constantly evident. However, the strongest demonstration of his love for God emerged after the birth of his son Isaac. God said to Abraham, “…take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2) God’s repeated emphasis on Isaac’s status to Abraham before mentioning Isaac for sacrifice was not enough for Abraham to deny God. Abraham demonstrated what it means to love God with all our heart when he followed through and obeyed the instructions of God. Abraham resumed the journey of obedience at the early hour.
“Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.” (Genesis 22:4) It took Abraham three days to get to the ground of sacrifice. Abraham’s taking his one and only son that he loved, on a three days journey must have been exhausting. Also, knowing fully well that the son was to die should have taken away all his strength as he went on for three days. Despite all, he continued because he loved God with all his strength.
Abraham also demonstrated his love with all his soul when he carried out the sacrifice in his heart. “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Genesis 22:10) Abraham’s attempt called for heaven’s attention and the angel called on Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”(Genesis 22:12) By not withholding and being so willing to sacrifice his one and only son, Abraham clearly demonstrated how much he loved God with all his heart, strength and soul.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to love God with all your all for His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is a jealous God and the antidote of jealousy is attention.

Daniel 6

When there is love for God you will seek Him in a unique way. Daniel’s love for God was an example of love for God in a unique. Daniel’s love for God established his custom approach and relationship with his God. Daniel could not let the day pass by without going into the presence of God. The kind of love Daniel had for God, positioned him for deliverance and preservation from the hand of his enemies. When he was marked for an untimely death in the den of hungry lions, he made his way out by his testimony in Daniel 6:10, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
How can a believer claim to love God and only pray to God when tough times and challenges arrive? It takes more than church attendance every Sunday to worship God and to show our love for Him. God is a jealous God and the antidote of jealousy is attention. When we give attention to God, God will attend to us. When Gods sees our love for Him He will respond with His love for us. It is written in Romans 9:15, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” As much as God’s mercy is for only the ones He chooses to have mercy, when you love God, you have positioned yourself for undeniable mercy of God. Exodus 20:6 confirmed the mercy of God for those who love Him when it stated, “…but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep my commandments.”
Among the blessings of loving God is that God will always fight on behalf of those who love Him indeed and in truth. He will fight against every unknown and known enemy in the life of those who love Him. When God fought on behalf of the children of Israel against Balak and Balaam, He fought their battle without them having any knowledge of it. When you love the Lord, He will turn against your enemy like He did for the children of Israel against Balak. God is true as stated, “…LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” (Deuteronomy 23:5)
Also, when you love God, His blessings will pass onto your descendants. After many years of the Israelites in the bondage of over four hundred years, the love of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob made God to deliver Israelites as stated in Deuteronomy 4:37, “And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power.”

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to love Him continually.

FAITH CAPSULE: With faith, there is love and Jesus questioned if there is faith when He comes back.

1 Corinthians 13

Have you taken some time out to search your heart if indeed you love God? Do you love God? What does it mean to love God? The word of 1 John 5:3 identified what it means to love God, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.”
Keeping God’s commandment is loving God. It takes sacrificial commitment to obey God’s commandment.
Loving God is a sacrifice. Sacrifice is not cheap but it is giving unto God what is costly. King David once stated in 2 Samuel 24:24, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”” King David was responding to Araunah who had offered him a free land to make a sacrifice to God. The sacrifice was meant to deliver the children of Israel from death that was caused by David’s census. At that time, David’s census was against the command of God. David’s rejection of free land was a clear demonstration of what a costly sacrifice before God should be. A costly sacrifice is a proven mark of love for God.
Sacrifice to God is worshiping God. To be faithful to God is worshiping God and faithful is loving God. Jesus’ questioning faith is also questioning love. He questioned, “…when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”  With faith, there is love and Jesus questioned if there is faith when He comes back. Is there love between children and parent; between husband and wife; between children; between neighbors between believers? Exchanging gifts in the name of valentine is not a testimony of the love which Jesus want to see when He comes. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 described love, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”
Worshiping God, loving God is supposed to be a non-stop engagement if there is breath within us. God did not just ask for love rather He gave us a standard of acceptable love when He stated in Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” To love God means to give Him our all. Through the pages of the Bible, men and women that gave all in love to God live to the glory of God. Men like Abraham, Joseph, Daniel and other giants loved God with all their heart, soul and strength.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to love God with heart, soul, and strength.